Putin Might Dissolve His Party After The Elections, Sources Say

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin may dissolve his ruling party in favor of a new
political base after next month’s presidential vote, unnamed
sources in the know have told
Bloomberg.

The party would probably have a new name, logo, and
leadership, according to the sources, who said the information
was not public knowledge. United Russia spokeswoman Natalia
Virtuozova and Putin’s spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said they was unaware of such plans.

United Russia, which Putin set up in 2001, lost its two-thirds
parliamentary majority in the December 2011 elections after
demonstrations demanding Putin's head. Putin
told supporters it was because of “deep-rooted
problems."

"It represented people’s reaction to the party’s inability to
respond to injustice at a grassroots level," Putin said.

The plans show maneuvering by Putin after tens of thousands of
people took to the streets in protests
against alleged fraud in the December polls, which showed Putin
with a majority. The government has since introduced a number of
political reforms, but Putin's numbers are still not as strong as
he would like.

While only time will tell what Putin's plans are, he
theoretically could disband United Russia and still stay in the
Kremlin if he wanted to. In 2007, United Russia had a
two-thirds majority in the Duma that allowed it to change the
constitution to allow Putin to lead United Russia without being a
member of the party.